Running Program Aims to Help Juvenile Offenders

Juvenile offenders in Winchester, Virginia, will soon have an alternative to community service for committing minor crimes, reports WHAG[4].

Starting April 6, a new program called “Running Strong” will train young people in trouble with the law to be able to run a 5K or 10K at the end of an eight- to 10-week period.

Howard Manheimer, a juvenile defense attorney and half marathon runner, created the program after witnessing the positive experience his 10-year-old daughter had with Girls on the Run[5].

“A lot of the juveniles I’ve represented are lacking in self-confidence and the feeling of being able to be successful,” Manheimer told Runner’s World Newswire. “If you train them to be able to complete something, especially something at the outset that they don’t think they can do, I think it could have the potential to change their whole perspective.”

“A focus in the juvenile court system is to say, ‘What are we going to do to make sure that this juvenile is not somebody that we’re not reading about in the newspaper for committing crimes when they’re an adult?’” Manheimer said.

“People don’t decide to become criminals when they’re 25 years old,” he added. “I think attacking that mindset by giving them positive motivations will give them a more promising future.”

Manheimer teamed up with Sheriff Les Taylor, also a recreational runner, who recruited his lieutenant and another deputy in his office as coaches for the kids. For additional expertise, Taylor brought on a local high school’s cross country and track coach. The team will teach the kids how to run during practices held two to three times per week on the school’s track.

Taylor said he hopes the program will also help change the negative perception the kids might feel toward police.

“During practices, we’ll be out of uniforms,” Taylor said. “We’d like mentor them and show them the other side of law enforcement, not just the ‘work side.’”

Manheimer said the running program will be an option young offenders can choose in lieu of community service. In other words, the courts can offer “Running Strong” as an alternative but cannot order it as a sentence.

About eight youth offenders are expected to participate when the program begins.

“I’ve played a lot of sports in life, and the greatest feeling was crossing the finish line of the one marathon I ran,” Manheimer said. “To replicate that feeling in them would be very beneficial.”